Can I drive a motorhome on my car licence?

One number decides it

A motorhome is licensed like any other vehicle, by maximum authorised mass. gov.uk defines MAM as the weight of a vehicle including the maximum load it can carry safely when it is being used on the road, also called gross vehicle weight (gov.uk, vehicle weights explained). It is not the unladen weight, not the kerb weight, and not the weight in the brochure. It is on the plate, normally in the cab doorway or under the bonnet.

Where the lines fall

• Up to 3,500kg MAM: category B, so any full car licence covers it. Electric and hydrogen motorhomes get 4,250kg under the zero emission allowance on the same category B licence.
• 3,500kg to 7,500kg MAM: category C1. Automatic on most pre-1997 car licences, a test for everyone else.
• Over 7,500kg MAM: category C, whatever the date on your licence.
• Towing a car or trailer behind it: the trailer rules apply on top. C1 alone allows a trailer up to 750kg; C1E takes the combination to 12,000kg.

The trap: a 3,500kg motorhome that is not 3,500kg

Many coachbuilt vans are sold at a plated 3,500kg precisely so that a modern car licence covers them, and the same base vehicle is also plated higher for buyers who hold C1. Two vans that look identical on a forecourt can sit on opposite sides of the licence line. Read the plate on the vehicle you are actually buying, and if it says 3,850kg then a post-1997 car licence does not cover it, however sensible that feels.

Downplating and uprating

Changing a vehicle's plated MAM is a real engineering and documentation exercise, not a paperwork trick, and it changes payload as well as licence category. If a dealer offers it as the answer to a licence problem, get the revised plating in writing before you buy, and check what payload is left once the habitation equipment, water and passengers are on board.

Have the plated figure to hand and the checker will place it against your licence date in about thirty seconds.